by Calculated Risk on 5/16/2014 08:30:00 AM

From the Census Bureau: Permits, Starts and Completions

Housing Starts:
Privately-owned housing starts in April were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,072,000. This is 13.2 percent above the revised March estimate of 947,000 and is 26.4 percent above the April 2013 rate of 848,000.

Single-family housing starts in April were at a rate of 649,000; this is 0.8 percent above the revised March figure of 644,000. The April rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 413,000.
emphasis added

Building Permits:
Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in April were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,080,000. This is 8.0 percent above the revised March rate of 1,000,000 and is 3.8 percent above the April 2013 estimate of

Single-family authorizations in April were at a rate of 602,000; this is 0.3 percent above the revised March figure of 600,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 453,000 in April.

Click on graph for larger image.

The first graph shows single and multi-family housing starts for the last several years.

Multi-family starts (red, 2+ units) increased  in April (Multi-family is volatile month-to-month).

Single-family starts (blue) also increased in April.

The second graph shows total and single unit starts since 1968.

 The second graph shows the huge collapse following the housing bubble, and that housing starts have been increasing after moving sideways for about two years and a half years.

This was above expectations of 980 thousand starts in April.  Note: Starts for February and March were revised up slightly. I'll have more later.